Author: Stuart

Ameer Khan spent 17 years at Apex Group before Praxis convinced him to switch sides. On 16 June, the Dubai-based professional services firm announced Khan would lead fund operations across the six GCC states. The hire signals ambition. Khan brings nearly two decades of experience in investor servicing, regulatory compliance and the operational machinery that keeps alternative investment structures running. At Apex, a global financial services firm, he shepherded funds through the full investor lifecycle—onboarding, transaction processing, AML and KYC reviews, regulatory reporting. The unglamorous backbone work that fund managers rely on but rarely celebrate. Praxis has been building that…

By mid-morning on Bluewaters Island, syrniki topped with sour cream mousse are already moving toward terrace tables. Flat whites cool beside plates of avocado and salmon toast. Sunlight bounces off the water, and the first lunch orders haven’t even started yet. This is 45 Bistro, the latest iteration of a homegrown Dubai brand that launched just three years ago. What started in 2023 as a neighbourhood café concept has quietly grown into a two-location operation, and the Bluewaters outpost marks a distinct shift in ambition. Where the original Port de La Mer venue leans toward cosy breakfasts and coffee catch-ups,…

MMG Group opened offices in three European cities on Tuesday, pushing an 18-year-old Dubai operation into markets typically dominated by agencies flowing the opposite direction. The simultaneous launch marks an unusual play. From its Shoreditch base in London, already operational, the company is building out activities in Paris whilst developing its Barcelona presence. All three expansions were confirmed 16 June, representing the most aggressive geographic push since MMG Group launched in Dubai back in 2008. What started as a production house has morphed into something broader. MMG Group now operates two core divisions: MMG Artists, which represents photographers, stylists and…

Mornine stood in the venue corridor during a major international sporting event, fielding questions in Arabic, English, and Mandarin within the same five-minute stretch. The humanoid robot—developed by automotive brand OMODA & JAECOO—wasn’t there to sell vehicles. She was there to greet guests, navigate crowds to their seats, and demonstrate what happens when a car manufacturer decides hospitality is the next frontier. The deployment took place in June 2026, though OMODA declined to specify which sporting event hosted the robots. Alongside Mornine came Argos, a four-legged quadruped unit that navigated crowded spaces and avoided obstacles with the kind of autonomy…

Seven tenants signed rental agreements exceeding AED10 million annually between January and May 2026. Another nine contracts landed in the AED5-10 million bracket. The figures, released Sunday by fäm Properties, reveal a rental market where the ultra-wealthy aren’t just choosing Dubai—they’re paying double-digit millions for the privilege. The shift goes beyond eye-watering individual deals. New tenancy contracts above AED1 million jumped 27% in value to AED509 million across the first five months of the year, up from AED400 million in the same period of 2025. Renewed contracts climbed 28% to AED114 million from AED89 million. Transaction volumes held steady. What…

Senior officials from Abu Dhabi gathered at The Peninsula Shanghai on 11th June for a closed-door session that doubled as a vehicle showcase. The Freelander 8 sat in the hotel’s event space, marking the first public appearance of a nameplate that vanished from showrooms years ago. Now it’s back. Sort of. The revived Freelander emerges not from Jaguar Land Rover alone, but from an partnership between the British marque and Chinese manufacturer Chery. JLR handles design. Chery supplies the electric powertrain technology and manages supply chain integration. The result positions itself as what executives call a “British Premium Intelligent All-Terrain…

Twelve properties worth more than AED5 million changed hands every day in Dubai last month. By the time May ended, developers had recorded nearly AED5 billion in off-plan sales. The pace underscores the Emirates’ grip on ultra-prime real estate capital. Figures released Thursday by luxury developer Keturah show 391 transactions completed across the month—184 villa deals generating AED2.51 billion, and 207 apartment sales reaching AED2.45 billion. The average property shifted for AED12.7 million. Talal M. Al Gaddah, founder and chief executive of Keturah, framed the volume in global terms. “This is the equivalent of almost 400 homes each worth more…

Major e-scooter accidents surged 97% across the UAE in 2025, outpacing every other vehicle category by a disturbing margin. The figure emerged from Ministry of Interior data analysed by RoadSafetyUAE, revealing a crisis that residents already sensed but couldn’t quantify. Whilst overall traffic accidents climbed 23% year-on-year—alarming in itself—the micro-mobility segment jumped 45%. E-scooters led that grim charge, nearly doubling their major accident count in twelve months. Now a study of 1,010 UAE residents explains why. Commissioned by Al Wathba Insurance and RoadSafetyUAE, the research conducted in January 2026 exposed a transportation paradox: 60% of respondents acknowledged e-scooters meet a…

BenQ unveiled its RP05 interactive whiteboard in Dubai on 11 June, cramming 50 simultaneous touch points into an 86-inch display designed for Gulf classrooms where group work can involve entire rows of students. No other Android-based education display supports that many concurrent touches. The device runs Android 15 and houses a 10 TOPS neural processing unit that handles AI tasks without routing data to external servers—a design choice that sidesteps latency issues and keeps student information on-premises. BenQ Middle East pitched the board as a replacement for the ageing setup where teachers juggle an interactive display, a separate Windows PC,…

Body Unit Academy launched HYBRD on 10 June in Dubai, wagering that gym-goers crave structure over motivation. The UK-based fitness education organisation built the platform around a single premise: most people abandon training programmes within weeks not because the workouts are too easy, but because they lack a system worth following. The timing matters. Fitness apps have multiplied over the past five years, yet completion rates remain stubbornly low across the industry. HYBRD takes the opposite approach to 30-day challenges and standalone workout libraries. Instead, users commit to year-long training pathways. All 52 weeks. Pre-programmed. “Most people do not need…